


Without Your Heartbeat

by There_Was_A_Star_Danced



Series: Just A Really Very Ordinary Story [1]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Fluff, Non-Graphic Description of Labor, This was my attempt at angst, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, drama but never really reaches angst, i am not good at the angst, non-graphic description of giving birth, nothing bad happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 21:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19934728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/There_Was_A_Star_Danced/pseuds/There_Was_A_Star_Danced
Summary: "In the dank recesses of a dungeon, a woman screamed.Not the shrill scream of fear.This was the prolonged and soul-destroying scream of pain.'Easy, your majesty, you’re doing well…'The Elven midwife raised a reassuring hand to the Goblin Queen’s knee. She had defied direct orders to be here."~The Circumstances Surrounding the Birth of Princess Beryl of the Goblin Kingdom





	Without Your Heartbeat

In the dank recesses of a dungeon, a woman screamed. 

Not the shrill scream of fear. 

This was the prolonged and soul-destroying scream of pain. 

“Easy, your majesty, you’re doing well…”

The Elven midwife raised a reassuring hand to the Goblin Queen’s knee. She had defied direct orders to be here. 

The woman on the bed sobbed as the pain relaxed. Her black-brown hair now absorbed all light from the sweat which dampened and permeated it. Soft peaches and cream skin shone under the light of a single candle. Hooded sage green eyes stared around the room with fatigue. 

“Jareth,” she moaned, her cries growing louder as the pain increased “Jareth…” 

“One more push, your majesty. Do you hear me? Steady now. Three… two… one… PUSH!” The midwife spoke again, cajoling the exhausted woman in her tenth hour of labor. 

Above them, the sounds of battle raged. A loud bellow announced a Rock-Caller among the forces. Steel rang against steel, loud cries met with gleeful shrieks. The battle was not going well. 

The midwife, when she had half a moment’s leisure to consider it, could only hope they would grant her leniency when they discovered that she had birthed the Goblin King’s child. She knew no other avenue of mercy open for her. She did not know where they hid the Goblin Prince or if he was even alive. Her loyalty to her people and her king crumbled around her ears under the Atlesian weight of her fear and guilt. 

The low moan of the Goblin Queen blocked out the sounds of the fight running rampant in the Elven City above them as the midwife refocused on her task. 

“I want to go home…” she groaned. 

“I know darling, but one more push and your baby will be here. Hold on, dear, and PUSH,” the midwife soothed and encouraged. 

“I want to go home… Dad… I’m sorry… Toby…” The queen moaned again and then gripped the edge of the bed and screamed as she pushed with all her depleted might. 

The shrill sound of a screaming newborn broke in on the gasps of the queen. An explosion shook the ground and flung the cell door wide open. The midwife caught the baby and severed the rope. She wrapped the newborn girl in the clean linen she had brought and turned to tend the queen. 

But the queen had vanished. 

The sound of tramping and shouting broke in on the woman’s ears. Terrified, she clutched the newborn to her breast. No one would believe her. Her king would say she had helped the Goblin Queen escape. The Goblin King would say she had helped to kill his wife. She had only one recourse, and she took it. 

Grabbing her cloak, she pulled it around herself and the baby, blew out her candle, and slipped away down the dungeon passage as quickly and quietly as she could. Whatever her fate would be, she must bring the girl to her father. She must return the babe to the Goblin King and tell him all she knew about the queen, the prince, and the Elven Castle. She could only hope against hope that her plan would succeed.

* * *

The storm blew up suddenly. 

Irene didn’t like summer storms. She didn’t like how they came from a clear sky. She didn’t like the sickly green shade they turned the air. And she didn’t like how they ruined dirt paths and roads and took pieces out of her treasured plants and trees. 

Sarah disappeared during the middle of a summer storm. 

_“So, twenty-one, huh?” Irene smiled, raising her eyebrows._

_Sarah smiled. “No, I’m still not seeing anyone. No, I’m not positive what I will do with my life. And no, I’m not looking at apartments yet.”_

_“Now Sarah,” Robert chided “You know we wouldn’t ask that!”_

_“You didn’t have to,” Sarah agreed._

_It was the eve of her twenty-first birthday. Toby was in bed and the three adults of the family sat in the family room with glasses of wine as the clock inched its way towards midnight. Suddenly, though the day was fair and cloudless earlier, rain burst and pattered against the window. No one noticed at first, as they kept chatting. But then thunder came and Sarah jumped, standing to face the window._

_“Did you hear that?” she asked._

_“Hear what, dear?” Irene asked, glancing at Robert._

_“That thunder… and rain…” Sarah’s eyes were unfocused as if she were reliving a memory. The clock in the hallway struck midnight. The lights flickered, and the shadows grew. A laugh sounded, but that was just Toby playing pranks on them, right?_

_Sarah jumped and turned at every noise. An owl banged against the window and Robert and Irene lept to their feet in surprise. Sarah gasped and her face became white as a sheet. She pivoted on her heel and dashed for the staircase, calling out for Toby._

_“Sarah! What are you doing?” Robert called out, following her._

_Toby came out of his room just as Sarah reached it, surprised and startled by the noise. Sarah clutched his shoulders and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek._

_“Glad you’re all right, Tobes. Just go stay with Mom and Dad for a second…” and saying that, she pushed him out of the room and stepped into it, shutting the door._

_Toby ran to Robert and Irene as they reached the top of the stairs and hugged them. Robert patted his head and gave him to Irene, going to follow Sarah as Irene held Toby back. Robert reached the door and, as he rested his hand on the handle, could swear he heard a deep voice inside the room._

_“Come and catch me, Precious Thing...”_

_Robert turned the door-handle and met a flurry of wings as a barn owl screeched in his face and flew towards Irene and Toby down the hallway. Sarah ran after the bird, colliding with her family. As she reached the top of the staircase, she turned, taking them in._

_“I love you guys. So much.” She smiled at them. “No matter what happens, remember that. I love you.” Then the owl flew at her face and screeched, grabbing a bunch of her hair. To their shock and amazement, Sarah laughed._

_“Hey! No fair!”_

_The owl screeched again and took off down the stairs, followed in close pursuit by Sarah. It flew at the French windows, which opened of their own accord and disappeared into the storm. Sarah, a laugh on her lips, a twinkle in her eyes, in her best dress and no shoes, flew after it. She barely stopped to leap over the windowsill before disappearing into the night, not heeding the worried screams of her family._

_She never returned._

“Thinking of Sarah?” Robert broke Irene’s revere. He glanced over at a calendar which had a date circled in red on it, less than a week away. 

Irene nodded. “I always hate summer storms when it gets close to her birthday.” 

Robert sighed. “Yeah, I know. This will make it… what, three years? She’d be twenty-four.” He came around to hug Irene as they looked out on the sickening sky. 

Irene chuckled. “I guess we have to be thankful that Toby’s birthday is in December, huh?” Robert smiled, pressing a kiss to his wife’s cheek. 

They tried to make sense of Sarah’s disappearance, but it was useless. Who was the voice that Robert had heard? Had he even heard a voice? What was with the owl? It all seemed… magical and mystical, and far too large for the pragmatic couple. If they had asked Toby, they might have heard him speak of a story Sarah had told him of Goblins and thunder and a fae king of chaos. But they never asked Toby. Not to say they wouldn’t have believed him. 

The storm was coming in quickly, and it started to rain. Large heavy drops fell from the sky, splattering against the windows like bullets. The sky was losing its light. Irene felt every delicately placed hair stand on end from the crackling electricity. She pushed the anxiety to the pit of her stomach. She must get supper on the table and call Toby. As the thought came, so did Toby. 

“Something will happen…” he announced worriedly. 

“How do you mean, dear?” Irene asked. 

“It’s… wrong. There’s something… not natural about this storm. It came up awfully quickly, don’t you think?” he pressed, dropping his library book bag to grab a glass of juice. 

“Not too much juice, or you’ll spoil your appetite. Well, sometimes summer storms do blow up quickly. I mean think of the one the night--” she stopped. 

“The night Sarah ran away. Yeah, that’s not really convincing me, Mom. But thanks.” Toby rolled his eyes. 

“Toby, now that wasn’t respectful to your mother.” Robert broke in, frowning.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Toby sighed. 

“I miss her too, Toby. But that doesn’t mean every sudden summer storm is--” 

The glass in Toby’s hand slipped from his fingers and crashed to the floor. 

“Toby!” Irene chided, running over to him and bending to pick up the largest pieces of glass. “Now what in heaven’s name--”

“Uh, Irene?” Robert’s voice was low and shaken. Irene looked up. Robert was gulping convulsively and staring out the back door. Toby’s face was pale and ashen. His hand was raised and a single finger pointed out the back door like a prophet of doom. Irene stood and turned to look where her husband and son were staring. 

The glass shards slipped from her hands. She screamed. 

Across the street, in the gathering gloom, stood a woman in a white nightgown, her dark hair falling around her face and the base of the nightgown steeped in blood and mud from the road. She was walking forward on shaky footsteps, focused intently on the back door of the Williams’ house. 

As she stepped into the street, there was a squeal of brakes and she fell forward onto the pavement. At the evidence that she was real, they came to their senses and ran to help. The man driving the truck got out and ran to the front to help her up. 

By the time Robert and Toby reached her, Irene was not far behind them. The woman was shaking with chill and fear, even as they helped her to her feet. The man driving the truck stopped his tirade and asked in a low and shaken voice if she was all right. The woman just stared at him. 

“Let’s get her inside. If you’ll help me, sir. Toby, get the door. Irene, get towels and blankets warming!” Robert took charge of the scene, wrapping an arm around the strange woman’s waist. On the other side of her, so did the stranger, and they caught arms under her knees to create a chair. 

Irene and Toby had run back to the house. Irene had disappeared inside, while Toby held the door open. A beam of yellow light fell on the porch. As the trio came under its light, the woman spoke, her eyes on Robert’s face. 

“D-dad?” 

Robert almost dropped her in shock. Turning to get a good look at her face, he looked straight into the sage green eyes of his long-lost daughter. 

Sarah was home. 

* * *

After a small discussion, they took her to the hospital. Sarah ended up losing consciousness before the doctors could reach her, but the nurses took care of everything and assured the family that she was stable. 

The doctors arrived to examine her. To their shock, they found that she had just given birth, perhaps only three hours ago. On learning her story, they at once called in the police. The police took over, instigating a search through the woods for the newborn child. It was a matter of time for the baby, so the other goal of finding where Sarah had been for three years was pushed to second place.

When Sarah regained consciousness, she freaked out from the number of strange people nearby. Even when Robert tried to help her calm down, she only freaked out more. With Robert and Irene’s permission, the Hospital Staff sedated her, and when everything calmed, the family stayed by her side. 

Which was where they were now. Robert and Irene had fallen asleep, propped up against each other. Toby sat on Sarah’s bed. At around three a.m., her eyes fluttered open. Her pale, sage green gaze stared up at the ceiling in the dim morning light, and she frowned.

“It’s okay, Sarah. You’re safe. You came home last night, but we had to take you to the hospital.” Toby broke in before she could speak. 

Her eyes transferred to him, but the frown stayed. 

“T-Toby?” she asked, her voice dry and cracked. She swallowed a few times and then tried again. “What happened?”

“You disappeared for three years. Your birthday is next week. Last night, you came stumbling across the road to the back porch and almost got hit by a car. We took you to the hospital, but you fainted and when you woke up, you kind of freaked out. The doctors said that you had just had a baby. Is that true, Sarah? Am I an uncle?” Toby leaned forward, unaware of the stress he’d just put on his sisters’ mind. 

“Um? What? I’m home? But… but I was in… Oh, please don’t let this be a trick. Please don’t let this be a trick.” Sarah murmured to herself, biting her lip. She took a few deep breaths, then turned to Toby. She took another deep breath, then reached out to grab his hand. 

“Well, I can still remember things… that’s a good sign… and you look more grown-up, so I can’t be dreaming of you.” She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. He smiled too. Suddenly she stiffened, her hand flying to her stomach. “Oh no,” she moaned, “my baby… Do you know? Did they say anything about my baby? Toby?” 

Toby shook his head, his fear from last night catching up to him. Sarah panicked. Her breaths became shallow and picked up speed, setting off her heart monitor. Toby gulped, afraid that he had done something wrong. 

In a moment or two, a nurse bustled in, coming to Sarah’s bedside. 

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, just breathe, okay? Work with me. In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four, five, six. In, two, three, four, five, six. Out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Good, very good. You okay now, darling?” Her voice was calm and competent, and she was a pro at her job. Sarah calmed under her care and could breathe easier. Robert and Sarah had woken up at the sound of the nurse entering, but they stayed where they were. 

“My baby,” Sarah said, grasping the woman’s hands. “Do you have my baby? Do you know where…?” 

The nurse, Jennifer, shook her head, her black-brown hair flipping about her shoulders. “I’m sorry, sweetie. The police are searching now, but your baby wasn’t with you when you turned up. I’m sorry.” 

Sarah’s head dropped back onto her pillow, her eyes filling with tears. A low moan filled the room as she grieved for a child she might never hold. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs. When she got the breath to speak, her only words were a prayer.

“Oh, please let them be with their father. Oh, please let them be safe. Please let them be safe. Please let them be safe…” 

The nurse caught Robert’s eyes over Sarah’s prone body at the mention of the baby’s father in a positive light, but she let it go, determined to pick it up later. 

“Did you want to sleep again, sweetie? You will need your strength.” She didn’t say ‘for when we find your baby,’ but she meant it and leaving it unsaid made it more powerful. 

Sarah nodded through her tears, but when Nurse Jennifer suggested sedation, she shook it again. “I think I’m tired enough to fall asleep on my own. Thank you, though.” 

Nurse Jennifer smiled and felt an almost irresistible need to bow before this young woman’s sudden and almost regal change in posture. But she nodded, and left the room, advising the family to sleep tight and if they needed anything, to just ring for the nurse’s station. At the word ‘ring’, Sarah started.

“Wait! My things, that were on me when they brought me in. Was there a ring on a chain among them?” 

Nurse Jennifer started, her eyes rising above the edge of her glasses. “Why, I’m not sure… let me just go check. I’ll be right back.” 

She only left for a minute. When she came back, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I saw nothing like that.” 

Sarah frowned. “Are you sure? An owl ring, with a sapphire and a brown tourmaline for eyes?” But Nurse Jennifer was shaking her head. 

“I didn’t see any ring. I could bring them to you though. You might see something familiar that I wouldn’t…” 

“If you would. But, in the morning. Don’t worry about it now.” Sarah sunk back in her pillows, a frown on her face and her lip between her teeth. 

“Is it a very important ring, dear?” Irene asked when Nurse Jennifer had gone. 

“Yes, and no. It’s not life or death, but it’s my wedding ring and I wanted it.” Sarah sighed and slid underneath the blankets, closing her eyes and leaving Robert and Irene to look at each other in wonder.

* * *

“Tell me again.” 

The tone was absolute, and the midwife trembled but did not dare deny the king. 

“In the last throes of labor, the Queen wished she were home, that she could see and speak to her father and someone called ‘Toby.’ Once the princess was born, I wrapped her in swaddling clothes and turned back to tend to the Queen, but she had vanished.” The midwife gulped again, praying to whatever deity she knew that the King would believe her. 

Before her on the throne sat the King. He looked neither left nor right, but at a chain wrapped around his hand so that the owl ring on the end of it dangled before his eyes. Abruptly he grinned, clenched his hand into a fist around the chain and stood. 

“You should count yourself lucky, wench,” he spoke as he advanced. The midwife gulped and trembled again, cowering before him. Instead of stopping before her, he passed her and turned, his voice changing. “It’s rare I find myself indebted to an elf.” 

Before the woman’s wondering eyes, Jareth, the Goblin King, bowed his head to her and laughed, turning on his heel to run from the room.

* * *

A week passed. Sarah remained in the hospital for observation after she told her story of what happened. Between Goblin King husbands and Elven midwives, it seemed obvious to the police and the hospital that Sarah had undergone severe trauma and had concocted a story which would aid her in accepting reality. 

The Williams family was not sure. 

Sarah spoke well of what she claimed as truth and familiar to her, except for some details she wasn’t positive of. To be fair, the Williams’ wouldn’t have believed her story either if it hadn’t been for that odd owl the night Sarah disappeared. 

But the idea their imaginations had concocted that night to handle the loss of Sarah crept through the family. Even Toby began to wonder if he remembered. 

Faced with the opposition and doubt of everyone around her, Sarah could do little to hold on to her belief. It seemed everything that had been her world was slipping away through her fingers like sand against the tide. But her sandcastle had been real, and at nights she could remember everything so clearly.

_Sarah closed the door behind her and turned around, facing Toby’s room boldly. Lightning flashed and illuminated the creases in the curtains. Laughter and giggles came from the shadows. But they no longer terrified her._

_She could feel magic racing along her arms like static as the huge barn owl flew at the window, banging against it as he had done so many years ago. The latch flicked, and the bird flew in and circled her once before vanishing._

_In a tidal wave of memory, the smell of rain and stone and leather and woods and **magic** rushed_ _over her as a shadow fell between her and the window. She stepped forward. His eyes blazed like they contained a million candles in each. He was just as she remembered. Tall, imposing, **wild**._

_“Why have you come?” She asked._

_“Not for the boy,” he retorted, guessing at her slight fear._

_“Then why are you here?” She asked again._

_He circled her, coming between her and the door, and he smiled, leaning in close._

_“Come and catch me, Precious Thing.”_

_In an instant, he was in his owl form and scaring her father half to death as he flew past them and to the ground floor. She knew that if she followed him, it could very well be the last time she saw her family. So she paused at the top of the stairs to be sure they knew she loved them._

_And then he was in her hair again, and she was saying it was not fair, and she could swear she heard him laugh in the screech of his owl form. Then he was flying away, and she was running after him, but never fast enough. Rain soaked her feet and hair and dress but she ran still with a laugh on her lips until they were in the park where she had played so often, under the willow that was her retreat._

_As she broke through the willow branches, she saw he had turned back to the fearsome Goblin King and she stumbled, keeping herself from falling by clutching at his cloak. His arms came around her to steady her, but she found when she was steady that they stayed, two steel bands around her waist._

_“I’ve caught you,” Sarah said. She refused to think about how it sounded as if they were playing a game._

_“Oh Precious Girl, you took the words right out of my mouth.” His grin was as sharp as ever. Rain fell in large droplets from the branches of the trees, splashing against them both and soaking them to the bone. For his bright smile, his eyes were hungry._

_“It’s time, Sarah,” he whispered. “It’s time to come home. You know it, don’t you?”_

_Sarah shivered, and he drew her closer._

_“I-... I’m not sure what you…” Sarah stammered, sinking into his embrace._

_Once again, magic raced along her skin and entered at every pore to reach her veins and bring her heart to pounding. She had always remembered being in his arms as a heady experience, but this was different. It was still thrilling, but instead of dampening her sense as it heightened her senses, it cleared her mind and threw her feelings for him into sharp relief._

_Now she knew why her choices of majors in college had looked so random, with everything from nursing to theater to government. She knew why she favored the flavor of peach and why glitter made her heart ache. She knew why she refined a haughty look in her make-up and why advances from other men made her raise an elegant eyebrow._

_It was him. She had always chosen him. She had just needed to grow up and see it._

_“The Labyrinth needs its champion, Sarah,” he whispered in her ear. “The land pines for its mistress. And I pine for my Queen.”_

_Sarah gasped._

_“Th-the romance is new…” she stuttered._

_He smiled, placing one hand under her chin to draw her to him and to kiss her cheek, just there, where the two lips join in a perfect arrow._

_“Because you do not need a villain to fight you.” He chuckled, his burning eyes fanning her cheeks to a bright crimson. “What you need is a King to court you. You have tasted magic in its rawest form, Sarah. You can no longer believe that this world will satisfy you. Not anymore.”_

_Sarah shifted in his arms and pushed him away to look in his face. At her sudden desertion, his face had changed, dropping its teasing surety. The rain still whipped around them, blowing the branches of the willow high off the ground. His hair was no longer raised and wild but plastered around his face and got in his eyes. His eyes no longer looked down on her, nor did they demand anything. They looked on her with a pleading he could never bring himself to voice. This was not the fearsome Goblin King standing before her. This was Jareth. This was a man desperately and completely in love. And at once, Sarah knew her answer._

_“What if I don’t care about magic? Or being a queen?” She asked, stepping forward. He frowned, leaning forward but confused by her words._

_“Choose your words wisely, Sarah,” he warned her, his eyes warring between confusion and hope._

_“I don’t want to fear you, but I can offer you my respect.” She said._

_He nodded, stepping closer. “I promise in return to respect you and your wishes.”_

_She bit her lip, feeling a tug in her chest which drew her closer to him._

_“I can’t promise to never be angry with you, but I can promise to always love you.” She spoke again._

_They stepped closer together and stopped before each other, joining hands._

_“I promise to remember that you are human, not a saint, and to love your flaws, regardless.” He promised in return. Sarah felt that tug in her chest again. She knew, somehow, that this was binding her to him. She knew and was not afraid._

_“I can’t promise to do all you say, but I can promise to listen to you before deciding and that your advice will always weigh heaviest with me.”_

_“I promise that when an order is necessary, I will always explain my reasoning sooner rather than later.” He smiled when Sarah giggled and their foreheads met._

_“I don’t ask you to become my slave, Jareth. I ask you to become my lover, protector, and friend. I ask you to be my husband, not my king; my counselor, not my dictator. I ask for protection, including from myself. In return, I will honor you, love you, and give you the rest of my life. Do you accept?”_

_Sarah wasn’t sure what prompted the wording and the end question, but she didn’t regret it._

_“I accept.” His voice had regained its hope and happiness and now battled the thunder for supremacy. “My Precious Sarah, I offer you my protection, my hand, and my heart. I ask you to be my queen and my confidante, to be my home and the mother of my children. I ask for your love and companionship for the rest of our days. Become blood of my blood and bone of my bone. Take of me, that we two might be one. I give you my spirit until our life shall be done. Do you accept?”_

_“I accept.” Sarah looked up into his fervent eyes, her own crinkled at the corners. A low light began to burn between the two. The wind whipped at their clothes and the branches of the willow until they became as one pillar, united by the banks of the stream. As they looked at each other, words came to Sarah’s mind unbidden, and she spoke._

_“You cannot possess me, for I belong to above. But I give you that which is mine to give. You cannot command me, for I am a free person. But I shall serve you those ways you require, and the honeycomb will taste sweeter for coming from my hand.”_

_Jareth then spoke. “I pledge to you that yours will be the name I cry aloud in the night and the eyes into which I smile in the morning. I pledge you the first bite of my meat and the first drink of my cup.”_

_He smiled at her, not leering or triumphant, but a real smile of love and support. Again, the words came unbidden to Sarah’s mind, but now they spoke in unison._

_“I pledge to you my living and dying, equally in your care, and tell no strangers our grievances. This is my wedding vow to you. This is a marriage of equals.”_

_The light between them had been flourishing, and now it burst into a large bubble of silver light, surrounding them as Jareth and Sarah kissed. As their marriage kiss slowed, the light diminished, wrapping to their forms and sinking beneath their skin._

_With a gasp, they broke apart, and reality settled into Sarah’s bones. She was married. At one in the morning on her twenty-first birthday. And she was standing, soaked to the skin, in the rain, under a willow with her new, fae, magical husband, who was a ruler of a magical underground kingdom, and who was laughing gently into her shoulder._

_“What?” Sarah asked, breaking into a few nervous giggles herself._

_Jareth chuckled again, drawing breath and placing a kiss to the underside of her jawbone. Pulling his head back, he looked her straight in the eye with a roguish twinkle._

_“Do you know something, Precious? I only came to wish you a happy birthday.”_

_Sarah gasped, breaking into hysterical giggles. “No! You’re kidding! You’re telling me-?” She couldn’t continue, but neither could Jareth, and they collapsed against each other, laughing in the rain._

_When Jareth pulled himself upright, he was still grinning. “My gift was still proper, though.” And with a flourish, he produced a crystal, which melted and became a ring in his hand, a silver, owl-shaped ring, with one eye a dazzling sapphire, and the other a brown tourmaline. Sarah heard herself gasp as he slid the ring onto her ring finger and resized it to fit._

_“Oh, Jareth… I love it…” recollecting herself, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him as hard as she could. “I love you! I love you! And not just for this! It’s the most perfect ring I could have ever asked for.” She hugged him, pressing her cheek against his own. “Thank you, Jareth. Thank you.”_

_“It’s my pleasure, dearest heart,” he whispered. Moving his hands to catch hers, he led her out to dance in the rain. Twist, step, glide, step, one hand on her waist, the other clasped in a firm embrace, moving to an inaudible waltz along the cobbled street. He hummed and sang, and she smiled on him, their minds cast back to that shared memory. None invaded their solitude but the rain and the wind._

_Their dance ended, Sarah shivered, and Jareth tugged her into his embrace._

_“My poor Sarah. How selfish I am to keep you in the cold,” he murmured, drawing his cloak around her, a wolfish grin on his lips._

_Sarah shivered again at his look, and matched it, wolfish to wolfish. “Jareth,” she breathed, “take me home. Get me out of here. Bring me Underground.”_

_Jareth laughed, kissing her once more, holding her to him with all the strength he had, as if he felt that if he let go for only a moment, she would vanish. Finally releasing her, he breathed “as my queen wishes” in her ear, and picking her up in a bridal carry, he spun her around, and they vanished from the dingy street, leaving the willow as the only witness of the holy rite that had taken place there._

The sound of a door opening startled Sarah, and she returned to the present. Nurse Jennifer stood in the door, a bright grin concealed behind a caring demeanor. 

“Hey, sweetie. Look who’s here!” 

Sarah smiled. Only three people visited Sarah. 

“Hi, guys!” she waved from her bed. Toby bounced up to his sister to hug her close, and Robert and Irene followed more sedately, a bag between them. 

“Happy Birthday, Sarah!” Toby beamed at her. “We brought presents and a cake and everything!” 

“Oh, guys, you didn’t have to-” Sarah began. 

“We did.” Irene broke in with a wink. “We missed out on celebrating you for three years. We will not stint now.”

“It’s good to have you home for your birthday, treasure.” Robert kissed his girl on her forehead. 

Sarah blushed and nodded, allowing them to fuss over her. They brought the cake out and presents too, one from each family member. Sarah didn’t protest but insisted that they bring Nurse Jennifer in on her break for a slice of cake since the woman had become family over the last week from her care of Sarah. It delighted Nurse Jennifer to join them. 

Robert gave Sarah a leather-bound book and pen for her writing tendencies. Irene gave her a photo album locket, fitted out with pictures of each of her family members, including Linda. Toby gave Sarah a stuffed owl. He couldn’t explain why. It seemed like something Sarah would want. 

Sarah loved it. She at once clasped the necklace around her neck and wrote her name in the leather-bound book. The owl delighted her, and she flapped its wings and squawked at Toby at random points as they enjoyed the white cake and peach ice cream around Sarah’s bed. 

Nurse Jennifer arrived at the door, announcing that Sarah had more visitors. There, standing behind Nurse Jennifer, was a tall man with a young boy on his arm and a basket in his hand. He pulled his hair back into a tight Celtic knot, leather gloves covered his hands and he sported a leather jacket and tight black jeans. 

“May we enter?” He asked in a rich accented voice, a bright grin on his face. 

His answer came in the form of a squeal from Sarah. 

“Jareth! Brennus! My boys!” She called out, her face ecstatic. 

“Mommy!” the little boy squealed in return. The man set him on the bed, and he ran into his mother’s arms. 

Setting the basket on the end of the bed, the man moved forward. His whole being consumed by Sarah in front of him, he ignored the rest of her family, who stared in awe at the reunion happening before them. 

Sarah, one arm clasped around the little boy, held her other hand out to the man. He caught it and slipped a ring on it, an owl face ring, with a sapphire for one eye and a brown tourmaline for the other. With a laugh of pure joy, he hugged Sarah and the boy to himself and kissed her face, again and again, breathing her scent, relishing the warmth of his family in his arms. 

“You’re safe, you’re both safe,” Sarah breathed. 

“We’re all safe,” the man interjected. Sarah’s gaze moved to him in inquiry and disbelief. He shot her another grin and nodded towards the basket. The room went silent, and in the quiet, the entire room could hear the fussing of a tiny baby, disturbed by noise. 

Tears sprang to Sarah’s eyes, and she gasped. “My- the- Baby! Baby! Jareth, baby!” she babbled, leaning forward on the bed. Jareth laughed again and leaned forward, pulling the basket with him. With a deft movement, he lifted the lid. He withdrew a tiny pink bundle and handed her to her mother.

Tiny bright blue eyes peeked up at her parents from under dark brown lashes. 

Sarah’s breath was coming quick and fast. “She’s a girl? I have a baby girl?” 

“She’s vewy pink,” commented her brother Brennus from his seat beside Sarah. The comment burst the tension and everyone in the room laughed. 

Jareth pressed a kiss to his wife’s forehead, grinning. “Happy Birthday, Precious.”

* * *

It thrilled Robert and Irene to meet Brennus but they were less sure of Jareth. They changed their minds after a detailed explanation and the testimony of their own eyes and ears when they visited the underground and heard the tale from the lips of Sarah’s friends. Jareth plied his great charm and soon delighted and frightened his wife’s relations in equal measure. They agreed that Sarah’s place was with her husband and her people, but conceded that they spend the Christmas Holiday with the family aboveground so that Robert and Irene could see the children grow. 

Toby was familiar with the Underground up to a point, as Sarah had often told him her story. It was less of a reach for him to stop imagining Sir Didymus and Ludo and Hoggle, and to start remembering them. He weaseled an open invitation to visit the Underground as often as he chose from the ruling couple, with the only caveat being that if they determined the danger was too great, he’d go home with no complaining.

The King and Queen named the princess Beryl Guenivere after the nurses that saved herself and her mother. She and her brother grew in grace and magic, gaining the hearts of their people. Brennus was a strong and handsome prince, charming in manner and firm in purpose. Beryl was great in luck and charm, like her mother, amiable to everyone she met. 

And as for Jareth and Sarah? They still rule the Goblin Kingdom. They will fade and hand the Kingdom to an heir; they may fade sooner than other faes, having shared their spirits and so being part human, part fae. It will not happen in the lifetime of Toby’s grandchildren, though. Fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, blessed their family some years later, but that is a story for another time. There will always be little tiffs and wars on the outskirts of the kingdoms, but after Jareth decimated the Elven Kingdom in the effort to retrieve his family, no one will ever try to harm them again. 

Jareth and Sarah still wake up together. Sarah curbs her stubborn temper and Jareth bites back dictatorial commands. Jareth adores Sarah’s dimples when she tries to suppress a smile and Sarah loves when Jareth throws back his head to laugh. She is still the only one to drive him mad, and he is still the only one she will ever excuse. Together they raise their children to follow in their footsteps of compassion and chaos, mercy and mischief, with a sense of duty to their people, and the knowledge that no one being is greater than any other, and the only true measure of greatness is the number of beings depending on you. 

Fin 

**Author's Note:**

> I... don't even know what this monstrosity is anymore. There's not really a plot to it, it's just a fluff bunny that wouldn't leave me alone. Apparently I like the idea of Sarah and Jareth's relationship as viewed from the outside, particularly Robert and Irene. I have a whole lot of headcanons for this verse, hence the need for a series. XD. This has been through at least three rewrites, and would not leave me alone, hence also the lack of updates on Realms.  
> I hope you all enjoy. I do not own anyone but my own OCs.  
> Take a look over at my Tumblr (there-was-a-star-danced-ao3) tomorrow morning for the mood boards and visuals connected to the story!  
> Also, for my readers of Realms, Good News! This monstrosity has actually increased my desire to write more on Realms now that I have a bit more background to go upon for Theater training! Thank you all for being so patient with me! *hugs* Y'all are awesome!  
> Love ya! Hope you enjoy! G'night!  
> And as always, "Please Leave a Contribution in the Little Box!"  
> ~Bea


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